Sterling Pro Charger

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nicho

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We have one of these mounted under the chart table (Bavaria 34) to be close to the batteries. It works perfectly, but at night when the fridge is on and pulling down the batteries, the fan occasionally runs at max speed and Is rather noisy. There appears to be no way of switching the charger off, so we switch the fridge off instead...not ideal. I am no electrician, but presume we could have an on/off switch fitted to the mains supply cable? Any thoughts would be helpful please. Thanks
 
Its probably wired directly to the circuit breaker/RCD. Identify the live wire from the RCD to the charger and fit a switch into that. That’d do the job.
However, I’m surprised that the charger is getting hot enough to cause the fan to run when all that’s on is the fridge. It shouldn‘t be drawing more than 4 or 5 amps which isn’t enough to the get the charger hot. You don‘t say what the capacity of the charger is but even a small charger (say 20 amps or less) shouldn’t get that hot just feeding the fridge.
One of two things come to mind as the problem. First is a knackered battery or batteries, which are taking a lot of current and thus the charger is getting hot. Alternatively, there’s a fault in the charger which is either triggering the fan without it getting hot or there’s a fault in the charger which is causing to overheat.
My own Sterling charger the fan only runs when it’s putting 35-40 amps into the batteries and that’s in Greek summer temperatures.
 
duncan99210 said:
Its probably wired directly to the circuit breaker/RCD. Identify the live wire from the RCD to the charger and fit a switch into that. That’d do the job.
However, I’m surprised that the charger is getting hot enough to cause the fan to run when all that’s on is the fridge. It shouldn‘t be drawing more than 4 or 5 amps which isn’t enough to the get the charger hot. You don‘t say what the capacity of the charger is but even a small charger (say 20 amps or less) shouldn’t get that hot just feeding the fridge.
One of two things come to mind as the problem. First is a knackered battery or batteries, which are taking a lot of current and thus the charger is getting hot. Alternatively, there’s a fault in the charger which is either triggering the fan without it getting hot or there’s a fault in the charger which is causing to overheat.
My own Sterling charger the fan only runs when it’s putting 35-40 amps into the batteries and that’s in Greek summer temperatures.
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OK, thanks - I will start by having the batteries (2x120amp/hr) tested, then take it from there.
 
The Sterling battery chargers have noisy fans, which is one of the reasons i no longer fit them. Victron chargers are much quieter, it's almost impossible to hear the fan on a Victron 30a charger, unlike my 30a Sterling Pro Ultra.
 
PaulRainbow said:
The Sterling battery chargers have noisy fans, which is one of the reasons i no longer fit them. Victron chargers are much quieter, it's almost impossible to hear the fan on a Victron 30a charger, unlike my 30a Sterling Pro Ultra.
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Agreed; when I first fitted my Victron Blue Smart 30A charger, I had to put my hand near the vents to confirm that the fan was running.
 
MarkCX said:
Better still, the Victron Blue Smart IP67 range have no fan at all just cooling fins. Only go up to 25A though. Totally silent 1 foot away from my sleeping head and doesn’t even get very warm.
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Although 25A will Chuck in a fair amount of power to a battery bank overnight. If people are day sailing from shore power to shorepower I would think very few people will drain 200 Ah plus from a domestic bank In a day, especially once you consider some engine use for people to get in and out of harbour.
 
I agree. I only mentioned the 25A as it’s unusual to have such a big charger without a fan. Plenty of smaller sizes in the IP67 range, all fanless.

Victron’s IP22 range does have fans, but also has a night mode for fanless operation.
 
nicho said:
We have one of these mounted under the chart table (Bavaria 34) to be close to the batteries. It works perfectly, but at night when the fridge is on and pulling down the batteries, the fan occasionally runs at max speed and Is rather noisy. There appears to be no way of switching the charger off, so we switch the fridge off instead...not ideal. I am no electrician, but presume we could have an on/off switch fitted to the mains supply cable? Any thoughts would be helpful please. Thanks
Click to expand...
If there's no apparent way of disconnecting it from the mains then it may have no separate fuse, which it should have. A fused switched appliance outlet would allow it to be hard-wired or if you wanted to be able to remove it more easily, an ordinary switched socket and fused plug. Then you could easily turn it off at night and leave the fridge on. BTW I'm no electrician either so don't quote me.
 
Catalina36 said:
If there's no apparent way of disconnecting it from the mains then it may have no separate fuse, which it should have. A fused switched appliance outlet would allow it to be hard-wired or if you wanted to be able to remove it more easily, an ordinary switched socket and fused plug. Then you could easily turn it off at night and leave the fridge on. BTW I'm no electrician either so don't quote me.
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You can evidently disconnect it by unplugging the input, though I haven’t tried. I was thinking of an easy on/off switch as you suggest, somewhere handy, rather than scrabbling around under the chart table. Battery check first though.
 
nicho said:
You can evidently disconnect it by unplugging the input, though I haven’t tried. I was thinking of an easy on/off switch as you suggest, somewhere handy, rather than scrabbling around under the chart table. Battery check first though.
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The AC panel under the chart table may have a dedicated breaker for the charger. Worth investigating.
 
IIRC, there is a button (or combination of buttons) under the bottom cover that allows the unit to be switched into a mode that doesn't allow the fan to run. I assume it will be charging at a lower rate. I don't have the literature to hand, but might be worth looking into. Then all you have to do is change that setting again in the morning. I also have a Sterling charger, and the fan can be quite annoying in the evening.
 
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